In December 2019 the Melbourne Disc Golf Club (MDGC) hosted the inaugural Royal Park Mixed Doubles event and it went so well we couldn’t wait to host the next one! Well, due to some “setbacks” we waited over 2 years to do that, but on the 22nd of January we finally hosted the second event, this time at the new temporary course. Many of us have been enjoying this fantastic course over summer thanks to the hard work from Anthony and the MDGC crew.
The motivation behind the mixed doubles event is to welcome women and new players to the sport in a fun, casual and social way. The format involves an experienced player bringing along an inexperienced partner of the opposite gender to play alternate shot doubles over two 9-hole rounds so everyone gets a good crack at the course and can contribute to their team.
We had 25 people on the day, with 11 teams and lots of new faces who braved the extreme afternoon heat to chuck some friz around the beautiful parkland. After round 1 we regrouped for a Covid-begone BYO snack break instead of the usual lunch break we’d hoped to provide. The vibes were still buzzing however so round 2 was underway and soon after we had some winners.
Emma and Aiden were the overall winners with an excellent score of +2, while Joanna and Kristan posted the best score of the newbies at +17.
Joanna also took out the hole 8 beginner CTP with a crushed pin-high drive, and Hailey absolutely parked the daunting water carry hole 9 to claim the experienced CTP prize
New players took home discs to practise with and experienced players took home the coveted Fehlbergs Pickles.
We hope to continue and grow this event each year so start scouting for that partner now! The MDGC will also be starting a women’s league this year to continue the growth of women’s disc golf – stay tuned for details.
Thanks to MDGC members Gail and Jeff for helping out, David for running the pro-shop + refreshments and Anthony and Oscar for hosting the event. Anthony is hoping to get some regular, mid-week evening doubles events going!
If you want to support the disc golf course at Royal Park send your feedback to the council here: https://services.melbourne.
Here are just a few images taken during the day. Click on images below to view full size
